Glaciers in Antarctica are pictured in this photo taken on Nov. 9, 2007.這張攝於二００七年十一月九日的照片，呈現南極冰河。

Photo: AFP照片：法新社

Envoys from almost 190 nations endorsed a program that sets out steps toward the next agreement aimed at reducing global warming, after accepting a compromise that watered down the responsibilities of developing nations such as India and China.

Delegates at a UN conference in Warsaw backed a plan from India and China calling for all nations to make “contributions” to reducing fossil-fuel emissions within the next two years. The language was less strict than the “commitments” suggested by the US and Europe.

The conference ran a day behind schedule amid divisions between richer nations and poorer ones about who was responsible for climate change and who must move first.

The envoys had locked horns on finance. The typhoon that devastated the Philippines in early November also amplified the anger of developing countries that industrial nations are backtracking on previous pledges.

Japan, Australia and Canada have watered down commitments on emissions. The Warsaw talks mark the first time since the UN started these discussions in 1992 that ambitions have been scaled back.